Stefania Pozzi

Profile

In 2011, I completed my BA in Intercultural Communication for Cooperation and Business, at the University of Bergamo, Italy, with a focus on Communication studies and a minor in Japanese Studies. The following year, in 2012, I enrolled at the University of Venice “Ca’ Foscari”, Italy, where I attended and completed in 2016 my BA in Language, Culture and Society of Asia and Mediterranean Africa, where I developed my knowledge on present and past Japanese history, arts, literature and society. While I was completing my BA in Japanese Studies, I enrolled in a completed in 2016 the MA in Japanese Studies at the University of Leeds, with a focus on contemporary Japan’s domestic and international politics and East Asian relations and cooperation. 

My first BA final project described the process of popularization of the “Otaku” figure in Japan and abroad through the analysis of the concept of “moe”, the anime “Shinseiki Evangerion” and the art movement “Superflat art”: through this research project I had the possibility of nurturing my interest in contemporary Japan society, cultural and social studies and the international representation of Japanese society. Similar interests were also the focus on my second BA final project, where I analyzed how three Japanese directors explored the cyborg theory in their most famous work. The research compared the description and exploration of the connection between the human being and the machine, technology and iron through Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man; Anno Ideaki’s Shinseiki Evangerion and Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell series. This research project has given me the possibility to explore the cyborg theory, the link between technology and contemporary modern society, with a focus on how Japanese society has adapted to the increase of technology in our daily life. 

My MA dissertation was on Japanese consumption of Korean popular music and it was based on a music videos analysis aimed at identifying patterns of continuity and discontinuity in the representation of idols groups from three major South Korean music production companies. Through the visual analysis of the selected music videos, I tried to identify the common practice for promoting Korean popular music in Japan, to understand the level of “Koreaness” present in them. Through this research, I developed further my interest in Korean and Japan relation on a social and cultural level, through the lensed of cultural diplomacy and soft power. 

Research interests

Currently, my research interests are in the field of East Asian studies, with a focus on Japenese and Korean studies. I focus particularly on Japanese consumption of South Korean cultural diplomacy, Japan and South Korean socio-cultural exchange and interaction, Japanese-Korean relation,  South Korean pop culture consumption in Japan and abroad,  South Korean and Japanese soft power, cultural diplomacy, nation branding and mediascapes. 

My PhD research focuses on understanding the consumption of contemporary South Korean cultural diplomacy and pop culture in Japan by Japanese teenagers and young adults. It is centered around the marketing of Korean pop music (K-Pop) in Japan to highlight possible connections to South Korean cultural diplomacy and the level of impact that the promotion and consumption of K-Pop might have on the Japanese ideas and representations of South Korea. More specifically, my project aims to highlight the presence of elements in the promotional material used in Japan of South Korean cultural diplomacy: it seeks to analyze how South Korean music production companies approach promotion in Japan with the goal to stress the presence or lack of details that can be associated with South Korean nation branding, mediascapes and cultural diplomacy. Lastly, it wishes to highlight the possible impact that the consumption of Korean pop product might have on contemporary Japanese ideas and representations of South Korea. For this specific analysis, the project is focused on Japanese teenagers and young adults’ consumption of K-Pop.  

My research project is partially funded by the Sasakawa Foundation and the Japanese Foundation Endowment Committee.

Qualifications

• MA Japanese Studies
• BA Japanese Studies
• BA Communication Studies

Research groups and institutes

• Japanese
• East Asian Studies